Chapter 32

Killian extended his right hand towards her. The muscles rippled beneath his soaked tunic clenched to his torso during the movements. The liquid steel within his biceps and triceps stilled with his nervous tension. Those same fingers that touched her hand earlier. The ones that  sent electricity through Ely's body. His fingers  were now curled ever so slightly reaching for hers.

His chest swelled with a deep inhale. He held the oxygen for a moment, waiting in anticipation for Ely to make the bold step of laying her hand in his.  Ely glanced to the floor having a moment of questioning whether to actually go through with what her heart ached for or not.    She had no idea where he planned to go.  Accepting his invitation meant she was blatantly putting her blind trust in him.  Did she trust him? 

Eyes lifting back to Killian, she noticed his eyes were sparkling with the cerulean color she had seen a few times before.  When he was simply a man.  The man with blue eyes, Ely trusted.  That man, whom she had been with this day, she trusted and could easily, too easily, lose her heart to.  The version with charcoal eyes, she feared along with the rest of the kingdom.  Why did Killian's eye change? 

"It may not be much to console you," he began, voice tight and thick, "Know that I would never harm you."

Ely released a breath, emerald eyes trained on Killian's beckoning hand. Her heart began to beat faster, breathing slowed and deepened. Was it excitement?  Was it fear?  She could not name the emotion.  Some unknown chemistry buzzed between them, charging the air and softly tugging at her heart.  Ely's eyes flicked up to Killian's noticing the change in his own breathing.

Something pulsed within her belly for unknown reasons until a warmth seeped through her arm.  Ely had taken the step forward and laid her hand in Killian's.  Her own behavior surprised her but no regret.

Nothing else existed any longer.

Servants faded, the soft clanking of dishes being laid out for the evening meal silenced, rain poured mutely outside. Even the overgrown garden seemed to transform to its once glorious haven but remained hazily in the background embraced by a fog.

Ely was hyper aware of Killian and their joined hands.

A smile played across Killian's lips fueled by their contact. It was one that accepted her comment of having no desire to rest, and his eager willingness to oblige it.  Taking the first step forward, Killian glanced back at her as he led them out of the rain soaked garden, through the limestone trimmed doors, back inside the castle. Those blue eyes that pleaded.

The proverbial fog surrounded them.  Her eyes were fixed on him watching every movement.  Confidence and authority in his stature intensified the twinkle of desire in Killian's midnight blue eyes.  They swirled like the sky before a maelstrom, calling her in.  Further and further drawing Ely under his spell. Killian's skin radiated with a building heat that increased with each determined step. He seemed like a caged tiger, prowling with each fluid step that he took.

Their fingers entwined, never letting go from their perfect fit as Killian led Ely down the familiar corridors that also seemed in a deep haze.  Until, that is, they finally reached his chambers. Killian  gave  Elyena a wry smile.

"I have a gift for you inside," he announced.

Ely's breath hitched, eyes falling on the ornately decorated cerulean door framed by carved limestone.  Only one was like it in the castle.  A room no one had dared go in while she was growing up.  Brass colored hinges feathered out to golden tendrils of ivy, gems arranged into bundle of grapes and five point flowers that inspired how Ely had her own bedchambers painted.  Aunt Elaine and Uncle Aedan chose another bedchamber for themselves.  This one was left in memoriam.

The two guards swung open the massive doors with a soft groan of the hinges.  Tears moistened her eyes, peering around the vast chamber she had never dared step foot in before even as a child. Taking in the lavish details made her throat run dry.  This had been her parents room.  The originally intended King and Queen's chambers until their deaths.

"Y-you," Ely stuttered, "have been in this room?"   A flash of anger soared through her. This had been an untouched room from her parents death.  "How could you-"

"Did your Aunt and Uncle not reside in the King's chambers?"

"No."  Fresh tears fell from her cheeks.  "No one has stayed in this room since my parents."

Killian squeezed his eyes closed. Lips pressed to a thin line as he exhaled heavily.  "My apologies, I-I did not know."

"Of course not."

"Elyena, darling," he turned to face her, taking both her hands in his.  "There was a portrait-," he paused, glancing down then back to her eyes.  "It inspired me to give you something I found in this room."

Stepping to the side, Killian left the invitation open for Ely to proceed first. Heart pounding, curiosity got the better of her.  This could be a glimpse into her parents lives Ely had never had before.   She put one foot in front of the other and crossed the threshold of the chamber.

Dark from curtains being partially drawn, a thin layer of dust on the  furniture, Ely could  make out the unique details.  Vast, tall arched ceilings, delicate molding in the archways, victor masonry painted on the walls even a harpsichord off to one side.  Aunt Elaine told the girls once that their mother played beautifully.

In another alcove, a massive desk littered with papers stood poised.  Ely pictured her father thumbing through paperwork while her mother's delicate fingers danced across the keys in a serenade. Their faces from portraits she would stare at as a child created a faded apparition of the parents she never met.  A bookshelf called to her, beckoning her to open the leather bindings and get lost in the words.  The shelves raised from floor to ceiling, every inch filled to the brim with leather bound books.  Of course they had the larger library in the castle but this would have been her parent's personal collection.

An iron chandelier flickered it's flames, highlighting the burgundy velvet chaise and sofa.  The wooden table beside it had two chairs Ely imagined her parents having tea, taking their meals, filling the room with their laughter. 

Finally Ely's eyes fell upon the bed. Clothed in a white canopy veil partially drawn back, the burgundy sheets sat neatly made, softly whispering to her to climb in and relent.  An elaborately carved wooden headboard stood framing the massive bed.

"The portrait," Killian's voice broke into Ely's thoughts.  "Was of your mother."  A sharp inhale caught in her throat.  "She was standing beside this harpsichord."

Ely stepped closer to the instrument.  Her fingers delicately glided along the top fully expecting to leave the wooden surface caked in dust.  Surprise sent her brows upward.

"It is clean."

Killian glanced down.  Was he blushing again?  "I had to room cleaned when I discovered the instrument was in here."

"Why?" she whispered, narrowing her eyes as they began to well up with tears.

"I-," he stammered.  "Did not think you would enjoy music lessons in a dusty room."

Heart pounding, Ely did another full turn of the room. What was this emotion churning in her belly? Excitement? Rising passion? Nervousness?  Having never known a man intimately before, the dryness of her throat, fluttering in her chest, slight clamminess of her palms could be explained by nervousness.  If Killian succeeded, he would be the last and only man she ever knew in an intimate way.

Standing in the chambers of the man responsible for the questioning of her own actions, Ely swallowed.  She tried to force the lump down her throat.  He held her sister prison, murdered her Uncle, usurped the throne of her family's kingdom and forced Ely to hide in exile.

Over the months leading up to this point, Ely had seen a different man, a better version of Killian.  She had see his justice, ambitions, kindness.  He had begged her to save him, from what she still didn't know.  She had seen him teaching boys to use a sword, heard his laugh and melted under his cerulean gaze.  He have presented her with thoughtful gifts, ones he would not gain anything from.  That man, s her heart yearned for, the one she saw in her dreams.  Very similar to the man before her now.

Ely's eyes fell on Killian as she turned to face him, not flinching when he closed and locked the door. She saw him seal her fate.  He stood cloaked in shadow despite the glorious sun outside piercing the storm.  The heavy draperies blocked the rays of gold fighting through the clouds.  Taking a step toward him, Ely let her eyes travel over his form.

During her inspection of the room, Killian had laid his cloak and vest across the back of a chaise then lit a fire in the fireplace.  Ely took a bold step forward as his body heat wrapped around her like a blanket.  His aura seemed to pull her in closer.

Killian had all the incentive in the world to further eliminate the distance so why hadn't he?  Was Killian having second thoughts?  He took Ely's hand in his with a grin pulling his full lips that only made his masculinity feed the burning of Ely's body even more powerfully.

His hand rose slightly, just enough to tuck that same rebellious  lock of hair behind her ear. The knuckle of Killian's index finger brushed against Ely's deeply flushing cheek. Her eyes fluttered closed as he pushed back the lock of hair, exhaling softly when he touched her cheek.

"Tell me what is on your mind, my sweet?" Killian asked.  His chest rumbled with his husky tone.

A sensation of peace flowed through Ely's veins as she took another step toward Killian, diminishing the remaining distance.  Had he been waiting for her to step forward?  She could feel his body heat seeping from his form. Lifting his hand from her cheek, Ely intertwined their fingers, fascinated by how they fit together so well.

Every touch and sound was enhanced. The tingle that jolted through her belly, made Ely's eyes flutter closed for a moment.  Was that the feeling he asked in the garden, if she felt it, too?   Opening her emerald orbs, Killian saw the powerful, hungry, lustful glow radiating from her eyes.  But it was mixed with a pleading hope.  Ely slipped her hand from Killian's, turning the palm toward her. Gentle as a feather, Ely pressed her lips against his upturned palm brushing ever so lightly over the surprisingly soft skin. Eyes lifting, she observed his expression.

When her supple lips met his hand, Killian's eyes closed, lost to the visible tremor that ran through his body. His inhale was shaky, heavy with his own desire. He slipped his hand free from Ely's grasp, again caressing her cheek, then tilted her head up to let their eyes meet.

Easing his way down, Killian's lips closed the mere inches to hers. In a slow fluidity, their lips met in a tender kiss.  Burning passion and power barely subdued like a waterfall threatening to shatter walls of a dam. Ely's eyes opened wide for a moment needing to be sure this was happening, that it was still the same man.

His muscular arm snaked around Ely's waist. He pulled his formidable chest pressed against hers.  Their lips parted, hovering millimeters apart, the warmth of their breaths mingling between them.  A sharp inhale, a growled sigh then Killian crushed his lips eagerly to hers again.

Ely returned the kiss after a moment of hesitation though she never rejected it. Breathing in sharp inhales, Ely moved her lips against his, quietly smacking with each release and capture.

For a man of dark repute, Ely tasted him.  It was sweet from the fine fruits they shared at breakfast, mixing with the aroma of fresh rain and sandalwood that was uniquely him.

The hand on Ely's cheek  slid in a tender motion to rake in her hair left loose this day. Killian cradled her head.  Ely noticed he tilted his own to deepen this sweet kiss they shared.

Pins and needles prickled deliciously everywhere Killian caressed her skin. His hands were smooth and deceptively light in their touch. Her eyes fluttered shut again, letting her body willingly succumb to this.

Every gesture and touch from Killian was completely contradictory to what the rumors described, the other titles, even the arrogant, pompous King she had met their first meetings.  No one had ever made Ely feel like this.  Butterflies swarmed in her belly. A knot twisted in her lower region, lungs burned for air.

The hand that Killian had held slowly shifted to rest on his chest. Ely's fingertips stroked the soft curls of hair peeking out through his tunic. Instinct urged her to gently catch then bite on his lower lip. Her teeth  raked over his tender flesh until it popped from their clutches.

Ely's cheeks heating from her boldness. Kissing the adult version of the boy from the garden from years ago was amazing.  The hand that was on his chest, tediously eased its way up to his cheek. Her thumb brushed over his swollen lower lip that fell open slightly at her touch.

She gave Killian a quizzical look, not meaning to voice her thoughts aloud but did, "Why has this man I have seen today been hiding so deeply for all these years? Patient, attentive, a visionary."

Charcoal swirling with cerulean locked with emerald highlighted in gold, Killian pecked the tip of her thumb, "Waiting for his love to save him."

While giving his reply, Killian took the wrist of her hand on his cheek, lowering it to intertwine their fingers again.  There was another petition to save him again!  Save him from what?  Ely gazed at their fingers, amazed at how someone who had committed so many wrong acts with those hands was also capable of such tenderness.

"This could be shared with you," Killian whispered, rubbing the tip of her nose with his. "All of this."

Ely closed her eyes, whispering her emotional response,  "You do not understand what you ask of me."

Inhaling sharply, Killian kissed her again.  Lips parted to freely allow the tidal wave of passion to come crashing out at last.  He earned a taste of her sweet lips briefly.  It sent shivers of delight from a sensation Ely had never experienced before.

Before Ely could register or contemplate that sensation, Killian tilted his head, mouth opening to kiss her deeper.  He flicked his tongue at the seam of her lips, eliciting a small gasp that helped him gain passage into her cavern. The tip of his tongue brushed gently across hers, swirling then letting the flats of them embrace for a tortuously sweet moment.

A soft moan escaped Ely's lips as Killian's tongue explored her mouth.  Still there was no hesitation. She welcomed the warmth pooling low, the knot intensified in her belly. Ely lavished in the passion, responding without boundary.  They had kissed a handful of times before but nothing like this.

The hand on her collarbone dipped down her back then along the curve of her side, his thumb grazing the size of her breast. Killian smirked as Ely gasped into his mouth.  Sealing his lips over hers again, he  pulled away allowing them both much needed oxygen. Ely relished in every sweet gesture, tender touch and passionate kiss that built up the mystery as to who this man really was.

His smirk grew as Killian took in her flushed cheeks, swollen lips and still lazily closed eyes.  Relinquishing Ely's hand, Killian stepped back holding his arms out slightly to his sides.

"Will you remove my tunic?" Killian inquired.  

Elyena's flashed open, wide in surprise of his command.  This was truly happening.  The weight of this choice pressed on her shoulders.  An outcome which would bind her to him with no way out.  In this moment, Ely asked herself, was that idea really that terrible?  Letting out a determined breath, she licked her lips and reached forward.